The present invention relates to the field of digital photography and, more particularly, to enabling a true surround view of a 360 panorama via a dynamic cylindrical projection of the panorama.
Increasingly, more devices include camera components enabling users to photograph the world around them. As such, many cameras within devices are able to capture panoramic media (e.g., images and/or video) with ease, enabling users to create large 360 degree panoramic media. These panoramas often vary in dimensions, projection type, and quality based on the camera components utilized to capture the photographs. Frequently, panoramic cameras often utilize traditional image sensors to capture a 360 degree view of a real world environment. These image sensors produce a stereographic projection of the real world view as an image. For example, images captured with a 360 degree camera appear as a “little world” doughnut image (e.g., circular image). These projections of the real world as an image often become distorted due to transformations that must be performed to present a three dimensional view (e.g., real world) within a two dimensional view (e.g., computer screen). As a result, 360 degree panoramas are often incomplete or incomprehensible when displayed on a computer screen.